ISIS claims responsibility for deadly Coptic church blasts

The Islamic State has claimed credit for bomb blasts that killed at least 43 Coptic Christian worshippers and injured more than 100 in two Egyptian churches yesterday, prompting a national state of emergency.

The Palm Sunday carnage started with an explosion in St. George’s Church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta that killed 27 people and wounded 78, authorities said.

“I was inside the church at that time and suddenly, the church was bombed,” Makaram Kamal Rateb said, describing the attack. “There were bodies and blood everywhere.”

Rateb, who worships at the church, said there was no security to protect churchgoers from the attacker, who died in the bombing.

Police were in place when the second bomb went off yesterday afternoon at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, where the Coptic Pope Tawadros II had earlier celebrated Palm Sunday. The blast killed 16 people and wounded at least 47 others, Egyptian officials said.

Authorities said a suicide bomber tried to storm the entrance before being stopped by police. The ministry said three police officers were among those killed.

Egyptian President AbdelFattah el-Sissi declared a threemonth state of emergency in the country, where there has already been a major crackdown on dissent and political expression. ElSissi promised justice and after the attacks the Tanta area security chief, Hossam Din Khalifa, was relieved of duty.

“It will never affect the determination of Egyptians and their true willpower to oppose the forces of evil. Rather, it will increase their determination to move past obstacles and achieve security,” el-Sissi said.

President Trump wrote on Twitter: “So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. U.S. strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President (elSissi) will handle the situation properly.”

Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population, and are especially visible on Palm Sunday, one week before Easter, when they tote palms in the streets. They have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists in recent years.

The Coptic Church is the dominant Christian denomination in Egypt, founded in the first century by the apostle Mark. The bombings occurred weeks before a scheduled visit to Egypt by Pope Francis, raising questions about security for that trip.